The Island Golf Club Key Information
The Island is a good test of golf demanding a variety of shot-making skills. The new holes on the front nine have elevated the course further, adding greater balance to an outward loop that used to comprise eight consecutive par 4s and a short par 3 back to the clubhouse.
For many, though, the par-4 14th coming home remains the standout hole with its narrow fairway and wasteland estuary edge waiting on the right to catch any errant tee shots.
REASONS TO PLAY THE ISLAND
- It plays through some of the most dramatic dunes of any older links course
- Recent work by Martin Ebert has given the whole links greater balance
- One of the most visually stirring opening holes you'll play anywhere
RANKINGS
UK & Ireland Top 100 Golf Courses 2025/26 - 72
The Island has made good progress in our Top 100 Golf Courses UK & Ireland rankings over the past two decades yet, for some reason, it perhaps remains less well-known than it deserves to be given its location just ten miles from the centre of Dublin and its idyllic setting, surrounded on three sides by water and marshland with holes that weave through some of the tallest and most awe-inspiring dunes of any older links course.
I was certainly impressed by the towering dunes you often play through on my visit, the kind of holes that I have now seen many times elsewhere but rarely on a links course of this vintage.
Word of its quality is spreading rapidly, and that looks set to continue apace following extensive recent work to remodel the opening half to take fuller advantage of the terrain. This work has added greater balance to a front nine that used to comprise eight consecutive par 4s and a short par 3 back to the clubhouse, and therefore greater balance to the overall course as well.
The club was born in 1890 out of the desire of certain Royal Dublin members to have somewhere they were allowed to play golf on the Sabbath. They would take a ferry over the estuary to a links that was originally routed from the seaward end of the promontory.
The ferry was still in use for arriving golfers until the clubhouse was re-sited in 1973, and the latest course revisions follow a number of other substantial improvements through the years at the hands of Martin Hawtree and others. Few would deny that The Island really is now one of the best golf courses in Ireland.
After that newly rebalanced front nine, the back nine features two further par 5s, the intimidating par-4 14th, with its fearsomely narrow fairway, and a stirring approach on 15, where the spectacular amphitheatre green is reminiscent of Doonbeg’s 1st or Carne’s 10th. It certainly whetted my appetite for the shot ahead when I managed to find that particular fairway.
The 13th is one of two great par 3s coming home, a classic one-shotter at the southern end of the promontory that could require literally any club in the bag depending on wind strength and direction. It's devoid of sand, with a cavernous pit and OOB all the way along the right-hand side deemed testing enough. I think that's more than fair enough!
What's new for 2025/26? What our panellists said…
A breath-taking Dublin Bay gem with towering dunes and divine views throughout that requires strategic golf. Straight shots are rewarded and will avoid the deep bunkers, which can be navigated relatively easily. Each hole is memorable and poses a different question. The course is great fun (even in a constant drizzle), immensely playable for a 16-handicapper and packed full of risk-and-reward options off the tee and when attacking greens. I’d be delighted to return many times to learn its many nuances and seek to crack some of its hidden codes.
A great mix of holes. Sometimes the dunes allow you just a glimpse of where to hit your ball, but nothing more. My favourite holes included the 10th, 12th and 14th. I’d wanted to play here for many years and it lived up to my expectations. Even getting to the club creates a sense of anticipation and there's a lovely sense of history, with many references to how players travelled to the club by boat until 1973.
The Island Golf Club location
Book tee-times at The Island Golf Club direct
The Island Golf Club scorecard
Best Courses Near The Island
Best Places To Stay Near The Island
Grand Hotel, Malahide - Book now at Booking.com
The Grand Hotel is located in Malahide just 2.5 miles from The Island. Boasting a 20-yard swimming pool, a spa bath and a steam room, this four-star hotel with satellite TV in the rooms is just a ten-minute drive from Dublin Airport. The Coast Restaurant serves fine cuisine with views of Malahide estuary.
Shoreline Hotel, Donabate - Book now at Booking.com
The Shoreline Hotel is situated on the beach in Donabate just a mile and a half from The Island and close to other fine courses. Dublin city centre is just 25 minutes away. The newly refurbished bedrooms offer balcony views of Lambay Island and Howth Head, or the Corballis golf links.
The Island Gallery
THE ISLAND HISTORICAL TOP 100 RANKING UK&I
- 2025/26 - 72
- 2023/24 - 71
- 2021/22 - 72
- 2019/20 - 75
- 2017/18 - 72
- 2015/16 - 75
- 2013/14 - 79
- 2011/12 - 92
- 2009/10 - 95
Frequently Asked Questions
Is The Island the best golf course around Dublin?
It's certainly one of the best, but it's up against some pretty stiff competition in Portmarnock (26th), which ranks highly in many course ranking lists, including Golf Monthly's UK&I Top 100. But The Island (72nd), with its towering dunes, impressive setting and fine recent improvements works, is the only other course in the Dublin area in our Top 100, so for us - and others - it's the second-best course in the region.
Why is it called The Island Golf Club?
A good question as it's not situated on an island, unless you're talking about the whole of Ireland being an island! The reality is that Sunday golf was forbidden at Royal Dublin Golf Club, so in 1887, a group of men keen to find somewhere to play on a Sunday rowed across the channel separating Malahide from a spur of land to the north known locally as the Island (even though it isn't an island) to find somewhere suitable for a new golf links.
